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The news coming out of this year’s CES is turning out to be a showcase for the way things are changing for the internet, which in turns affect how people use search (for both searching and marketing).

First, Microsoft had its major Live Search announcements. Then, we saw a device with Android to compete with the iPod Touch.

But another major topic is the merging of TV with the Internet. This isn’t anything new, it’s just getting cooler. You or your grandma may have used Web TV before. Remember those good ol’ days? But it’s online video sites like YouTube and now Hulu which are really driving the convergence.

Electronics companies such as LG and Samsung are debuting new televisions that are Internet connected. Yahoo is taking advantage of the opportunity.

Yahoo has developed a Widget Channel for these new devices. The channel is powered by their Widget Engine. Developers can create widgets to enhance a viewer’s TV watching experience.

Here’s what a Yahoo! weather widget looks like:

eBay, CBS and MySpace have widgets on the channel, with more expected soon from Netflix, Twitter, the New York Times and more.

“Yahoo! has combined key attributes of the Internet, including openness, community, and personalization, with the power of television,†said Patrick Barry, vice president, Connected TV, Yahoo!. “By creating this revolutionary new Internet experience, and combining our technology with the global distribution of major consumer electronics partners, we enable consumers to access the relevant information and content to enhance their television watching experience.â€

Last but not least, TiVo has updated the search on their digital video recording service.

“What Google did for the Internet, TiVo is now doing for the TV, bringing people a combination of excellent search results and innovative discovery that can’t be found anywhere else,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo. “TiVo has always been known as the best way to watch what you want, when you want it. Now we’re taking that to a new level, using TiVo technology to find just the right program from hundreds of channels and thousands of broadband options, all in seconds. It is clear TiVo is leading the way in providing more choice, and also leading the way in finding content quickly. TiVo Search is a new way to find what you’ve been missing.”

With the marriage of TV and the internet, TiVo could rise as a player in search.

What do you, dear reader, think about these new developments? Share your thoughts on the convergence of TV and the internet in the comments.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and President, Entertainment & Devices Division Robbie Bach took to the stage at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to make three major announcements about Live Search.

They are:

What do you think about these announcements? Let us know in the comments.

Related Reading:
Live Search to Be Integrated with Blackberry Browser and Maps
Live Search and Windows Live Toolbar Now Offer Translation
Microsoft to Work on Live Search Reputation

While Google may own the web search market, Microsoft’s announced deal with Verizon could put them at the top of the mobile search space. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas yesterday.

With the purchase of Alltell expected to be completed soon, Verizon would have the largest market share of the mobile space in the United States.

“Under a five-year agreement, Microsoft Live Search will become the default search service on cellphones and smartphones running on the Verizon Wireless network. Verizon’s customers will still be able to access other search services through their mobile Web browsers,” the New York Times reported.

Though they can access other engines, just like the browser installed on a computer, most would likely use the default. Given the growing use of mobile devices in place of computer use this could be a major play by Microsoft in what could become the future of search.

Hackers usually are smart, but can be really, really stupid. The person who hacked Twitter - not the Direct Message phishing expedition that started over the weekend - could have picked pretty much anyone else on the planet and be less concerned of being tracked down.

This person hacked President-elect Obama’s Twitter account! There has to be Secret Service people - like the Diane Laine character in Untraceable - crawling through the internet tracking him/her down. That is if the person has not been quietly killed already (for my conspiracy theorist readers).

Barack’s account was one of 33 hacked, according to the Twitter blog.

If the Secret Service kill the person during the arrest, I have a nomination for the Darwin Awards.

Bizfilings' Starting an LLC Service

links for 2008-12-30

Microsoft, Google and Apple Being Sued Over Icon Navigation

Virtual Office Phone Service From GotVMail

Using GoToMeeting to Save Time and Money

links for 2008-12-26

A eulogy is something you need to prepare if you are asked to make a speech during a funeral service. Preparing a eulogy can be a tough job especially if you do not have an idea on how to make one. No…
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the importance of a sample eulogy

It’s been a popular year for answers sites as well as adding answers to existing sites and now real estate search engine Zillow is getting in on the action. Their new feature, Zillow Advice, provides a much needed answers niche for an industry going through much upheaval.

“In today’s changing and unprecedented housing market, homeowners, buyers and sellers are hungry for advice and information,” said Rich Barton, CEO and co-founder of Zillow.com. “This is apparent in the traffic and activity we are seeing on Zillow, with unique visitors up 44 percent over this time last year - it’s clear more people than ever are searching for answers. Zillow Advice is a place where people can ask questions, find information on a very specific and local level, and connect with the real estate professionals in their area who can help. This, in addition to Zillow’s updated home value and for-sale data on 80 million U.S. homes, creates an invaluable resource for consumers trying to navigate today’s market.”

Here’s what to expect:

Related Reading:
Zillow Unveils Automated Quote API
Zillow Launches Free Professional Directory
Zillow Launches New Ad Network with Consortium of Newspapers

All week long, I’ve been reporting on the top 10 stories from each day of Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2008. Generally, they were generated by news coverage of the three keynotes and two Orion Panels, or interviews with speakers at the 63 conference sessions. Hey, that’s just fishing where the fish are.

But there were a couple of other places where I found underreported stories from SES Chicago 2008: SES Magazine, the Expo Hall, the free mini clinics, and the search training workshops.

If you didn’t attend Search Engine Strategies Chicago this year, find someone who did. And “borrow†his or her copy of SES Magazine. There is a lot of content in there – beyond the conference information.

For example, there’s an article by Kate Kaye, senior editor of ClickZ News, entitled “Politics 2.0: Political Change Comes to Search, Too.†It looks at the search marketing tactics that Chicago’s own Barack Obama and his rivals used during the 2008 presidential electiion. My favorite underreported story is how the campaigns employed search to take advantage of hot topics right away.

If you can’t find someone with a copy of SES Magazine, then check out the interview below with Kate, which appeared back in June.

Meanwhile, over at booth #315 in the Expo Hall, ideaLaunch was giving demos of WordVision, its new SEO software tool that uses a complex algorithm to recommend hot keywords to SEO writers. Yes, that got my attention. And once this content is uploaded to a website, it tracks the contents’ impact on search engine listings so that SEO managers can understand the overall ROI of content assets. Yes, that got my attention, too.

But wait! There’s More!

Over at booth #204, there were a series of free mini clinics. Tim Ash, the President of SiteTuners, ran one called, “Your Baby Is Ugly - Landing Page Mini-Critiques.†David Szetela, the CEO of Clix Marketing, ran another called, “Power PPC Advertising Clinic.†Jonathan Mendez, Founder and CEO of RAMP Digital, ran a third called, “ CPA Optimization Station.†And Brad Geddes, Founder of bgTheory.com, ran a fourth called, “Ad Copy to Landing Page Review.â€

In fact, check out what Kurt Scholle, Head Coach of WebAsylum.com, wrote about them at Website-ROI-Guy:
– I Met a Rockstar at Search Engine Strategies/Chicago
– Your Baby Is Ugly - Landing Page Mini-Critiques (SES Chicago)

Okay, so maybe the mini clinics weren’t as underreported as SES Magazine and the Expo Hall stories. But it doesn’t hurt to overreport them, does it?

Finally, there are the six search training workshops, which will be held on Friday, Dec. 12 at the Chicago Hilton. These include:

Search & Analytics Workshop: Using Analytics to Increase Search Effectiveness — Analytics are a gold mine of information, just waiting to be uncovered. The results of campaigns, effectiveness of the website, and the efficiency of your rankings can all be measured with a good analytics program. Unfortunately, many site managers do not make changes to the website without prior measurement, nor do they measure after the changes. As a result, there are many changes to sites that are not based on facts, merely assumptions. Similarly, if changes are not analyzed, then there can be no clear understanding of whether or not improvements made a difference on the site or to the bottom line.

Viral Marketing & Link Baiting — Attendees will gain a better understanding of the concepts, ideas and implementations that are required to launch a viral marketing or link baiting campaign. They will learn why the Internet has created a unique environment that allows for rapid, inexpensive word of mouth marketing and how they can harness that environment to promote their own products and services. The workshop will give real life examples of both good and bad viral marketing campaigns and will share insight on how your business can capitalize on your competitor’s viral disasters. This workshop will also focus on how you can make use of consumer generated media environments like social media outlets, blog marketing, discussion forums and more to both monitor and expand your company’s online persona. Consumer generated media (the very core of viral marketing) is the fastest growing form of media online today. It’s only a matter of time until someone online talks about your business. This course will not only help prepare you in the ways to respond to the conversation, it will help you learn how to shape that conversation to your advantage.

Link Building Tactics, Tools & Techniques — Need links? In order to rank well and successfully promote your online business, you need an effective link building program as part of your overall SEO strategy. This link building workshop will help you to better understand and manage your link building campaigns by providing you with the knowledge to create proven, practical and creative link marketing campaigns. You’ll walk away understanding why you need certain links, how to find them, and how to effectively use links to promote your brand and your search engines rankings.

Advanced AdWords – This session is broken down into two sections. The first section examines how to effectively use keywords, ad copy, landing pages, and the search and content networks to effectively reach your target audience based upon where consumers are in the buying cycle. The second section will examine different bidding strategies you can employ to maximize your campaign’s goals.

Search Engine Optimization Workshop — A search-engine friendly Web site is a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers. In order for a site to be search-engine friendly, it must meet the terms and conditions set forth by the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask, etc). Additionally, the site must satisfy the needs of site visitors. Ultimately, the site must be profitable for the Web site owner. Can a single site satisfy all of these groups? This workshop will demonstrate that these skills are essential for building a user-friendly, search-friendly, and persuasive site that converts visitors into buyers.

Optimizing for Universal Search — Universal search changes everything! The advent of Google’s Universal Search has been called “the most radical change to its search results ever.” So, how do you take advantage of Google’s new approach that blends listings from news, maps, video, and image search among those it gathers from web search? This training session will help you get found in all the right places.

The full-day training session is $1,345 and half-day is $745. Register for SES SEM Training at http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/training.html.

Now, I realize that the search training workshops haven’t even been held yet. So, it may be premature to call them underreported. But trust me on this. Most of the journalists and bloggers who covered SES Chicago 2008 this week have already headed home. So, I’m pretty confident predicting that this, too, will be one of the underreported stories from the conference and expo.

Hey, I could be wrong. As Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Dipchand “Deep” Nishar is leaving Google to join social network LinkedIn. He will become Vice President of Products for the career and professional oriented social network.

While at Google, Nishar contributed to mobile efforts and most recently oversaw product development for Asia-Pacific.

Nishar is the latest of a string of Googlers leaving to join startups or build their own companies. While the current economy makes this a risky move, LinkedIn is one of the few startups bucking the trend. In fact, if you’re one of the many finding yourself “in between jobs” right now, LinkedIn is a great place to network.

Related Reading:
LinkedIn’s New Search Platform Goes Live
LinkedIn Combines Social and Search in New Events Feature
LinkedIn Launches Market Research Survey Service